Michel Riesen

By pbadmin

September 17th, 1997

The Edmonton Oilers made history this past summer when they draftedSwiss standout Michel Riesen. At 14th overall, Riesen is the highestdrafted player ever that was born and trained in Switzerland. He is,arguably, the best Swiss player in recent hockey history and the Oilmay have gotten the steal of the draft.

What sold Edmonton management on Michel was that they couldn’t findanything about him that they didn’t love. One thing that Riesen has thatJoe Thornton and Patrick Marleau do not, is versatility, which heexemplifies exceptionally well. While he is listed as a left wing,Riesen can easily play any of the three forward positions. Extremelytalented offensively, he has a pure goal scoring ability and superiorhands that he uses around the net. He led all scorers at the recentEuropean Junior Championship and far outshined every other player there.Riesen’s all-around game has no glaring flaws, though his defensiveskills could use some work which will come with time. Michel takes thepuck out well, protecting it much in the form of Jaromir Jagr. Also likeJags, Riesen has incredible balance attributed to stellar strength. Hecomes down very strong on the wing and releases a heavy, accurate shotor a perfect pass across the slot. A unique European player in that heshoots right coming from the left side.

Riesen has the height will need to gain some weight, around 15 pounds,but he should develop into a dominant second-line winger. He signed backon with Biel-Bienne(SUI) where he’ll continue to mature. He should bewith the Oilers in two seasons and that’s fine with Edmonton. Whilethey need scoring wingers, they’re not desperate and they have a teamfull of sophomores to train. They also know like a good Suiss cheese,players need time to age and develop.The only worry they have regardingRiesen is that his Suiss team will try and keep him for more than twoyears, which is possible, and that he’ll only be a superstar thereinstead of the NHL.